Ohio News

An Ohio newspaper company has said it will no longer publish its local newspapers after the shooting of the newspapers' photographer by a sheriff's deputy who said he mistook a camera tripod for a rifle.

KBA News LLC owner Dale Grimm and his son Andy made the announcement last week, saying photographer Andy Grimm hasn't been able to return to work since the shooting. The company says that is a main reason for ending the print production of the New Carlisle News, Enon Eagle and Tippecanoe Gazette though the newspapers will continue publishing online.

A grand jury last month declined to indict the Clark County sheriff's deputy for shooting Andy Grimm in 2017.

Andy Grimm says the shooting has strained relations between the company and the involved entities.

The same jury that convicted a man of first-degree murder for driving his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally will now decide his punishment.

The jury in the trial of James Alex Fields Jr. will reconvene Monday to hear additional evidence and come up with a sentencing recommendation for Judge Richard Moore on murder and other charges.

Fields was convicted Friday in the death of Heather Heyer during the "Unite the Right" rally organized to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederal Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Fields also injured dozens when he drove into a crowd of people who showed up to protest against the white nationalists.

The 21-year-old Fields, of Maumee, Ohio, faces 20 years to life in prison on the murder charge.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — FedEx says an employee was killed in an accident at Indianapolis International Airport, where it has a large distribution hub.

Information about how the Thursday night accident happened or the person killed weren't immediately released.

Indiana Department of Labor spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland says state workplace safety investigators were notified Friday and were reviewing the accident.

The inspection is expected to be completed within a month.

FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey released a statement offering condolences to the worker's family and that the Memphis, Tennessee-based company was cooperating with investigators.

He referred questions about the accident to airport police, who didn't immediately respond to a request for information.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq on Monday celebrated the anniversary of its costly victory over the Islamic State group, which has lost virtually all the territory it once held but still carries out sporadic attacks.

The government declared victory last December after a grueling three-year war in which tens of thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. Entire towns and neighborhoods were reduced to rubble in the fighting.

The government declared Monday a national holiday, and a moment of silence is planned for later in the day. Checkpoints in the capital were decorated with Iraqi flags and balloons, as security forces patrolled the streets playing patriotic music.

As part of the celebrations, authorities plan to reopen parts of Baghdad's fortified Green Zone — home to key government offices and embassies — to the public. The move is billed as an act of transparency following protests against corruption and poor public services.

Addressing a group of Iraqi military officers, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said it was a "proud day for all of us when our brave country defeated the enemies of life, dignity, freedom and peace."

He commended the security forces as well as Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who issued a fatwa, or religious edict, mobilizing volunteers after the armed forces collapsed in the face of the IS onslaught in 2014. Tens of thousands of volunteers joined an array of state-sanctioned militias, many of them backed by Iran.

"That fatwa will be a bright spot in the history of this country and the people, from whom the decisive response started, laying the foundations of the victory," Abdul-Mahdi said.

He called on Iraqis to renounce their differences and to come together for a better future. "The time has come to leave behind all the past mistakes and conspiracies to open the doors of hope for our children for a better future," he said, vowing to rebuilt the demolished areas and help displaced people to return to their homes.

The Islamic State group, which traces its roots back to the insurgency that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, swept into Iraq from neighboring Syria in the summer of 2014. It carved out a self-styled caliphate across a third of both countries, imposing a harsh form of Islamic rule and massacring its opponents. The group abducted thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority and forced them into sexual slavery.

Iraqi forces aided by a U.S.-led coalition eventually drove the group from all the territory it once held in Iraq, including in the climactic battle for Mosul, the country's second-largest city. IS still holds a small pocket of territory in Syria, near the Iraqi border.

Iraq is still grappling with the legacy of the extremist group's brutal rule.

More than 1.8 million Iraqis remain displaced across the country, and a staggering 8 million require some form of humanitarian aid, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. Those with suspected links to IS have been rejected by their communities, while thousands of children fathered by IS militants — including those born to enslaved Yazidi women — are still unrecognized by the state.

Nearly two-thirds of displaced people say they are unwilling or unable to return home in the next year, with more than half saying their homes were damaged or destroyed, said the aid group.

"If this is what 'victory' looks like, then there is little to celebrate for millions of Iraqis still haunted by the crimes of the IS and the long war to eliminate it," said Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General Jan Egeland. "They have largely been forgotten by their own government and the international community."

COMMERCIAL POINT, Ohio - A man is dead and two children are in critical condition after a crash in Commercial Point on Sunday night, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

OSHP said there was a call about a reckless driver.

South Bloomfield police saw the vehicle and started pursuing on U.S. 23 along with other agencies.

The driver then continued onto SR-762 before losing control near Cyrus Street on a curve when he was going too fast, troopers said.

He hit a tree, was thrown from the car, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

OSHP said two children in the car, both under the age of 4 years old, were taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital in critical condition.

The road is closed in the area.

Investigators have not identified the driver.

A community is coming together to support those of Jewish faith afraid to display decorations during Hanukkah.

Sally Stamper of Bexley tells 10TV she was moved to ask Facebook readers for help after learning several children in the community have expressed fear of displaying decorations during the Jewish Holiday following the acts of hate at a Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania.

“We’re not afraid to put Christmas trees in our windows and no one should be afraid to put a sign of their religious faith in their window,” Stamper said.

The Facebook post read:
Neighbors, I am reaching out to others in our community who - like me - are not Jewish. I've just learned that more than one child in our community is afraid to have a menorah publicly displayed in their window. They are fearful of violence, after the murders at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh.
I will be purchasing a menorah tomorrow and lighting it in my front window each of the nights of Hanukkah that I am in town. I invite you to do the same.

Stamper says the post quickly gained attention. Readers of all faiths in the “Bexley Buzz” Facebook began asking where they too could purchase a menorah and expressing a desire to stand with those who are afraid.

“Thinking that today, right here in our community, there would be children that would be scared to share their Jewishness really appalled me,” Shirley Nyhan said.

Nyhan of Bexley said she shared the post without hesitation.

Stamper said the post received support from those in the Jewish community like Sara O’Koon.

“For our community to step up and say we believe in you, we’re a part of you, I was just wow’d by it,” O’Koon said.

As President Donald Trump ponders picking a new chief of staff, more names are emerging as possible contenders for the job.

People familiar with the discussion at the White House tell The Associated Press that among the people being considered are the White House budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, and a Republican congressman from North Carolina, Mark Meadows.

Other names in the mix include Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Trump's former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie.

Once thought to be the president's top choice, vice presidential chief of staff Nick Ayers tweeted Sunday that he's no longer in the running for the position.

Trump says in a tweet that he'll be making a decision "soon."

WASHINGTON — Top House Democrats on Sunday raised the prospect of impeachment or almost-certain prison time for President Donald Trump if it's proved that he directed illegal hush-money payments to women, adding to the legal pressure on the president over the Russia investigation and other scandals.

"There's a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him, that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time," said Rep. Adam Schiff, the incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee. "The bigger pardon question may come down the road as the next president has to determine whether to pardon Donald Trump."

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, described the details in prosecutors' filings Friday in the case of Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as evidence that Trump was "at the center of a massive fraud."

"They would be impeachable offenses," Nadler said.

In the filings, prosecutors in New York for the first time link Trump to a federal crime of illegal payments to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller's office also laid out previously undisclosed contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries and suggested the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Trump and his Republican campaign by playing to both his political and personal business interests.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and has compared the investigations to a "witch hunt."

Nadler, D-N.Y., said it was too early to say whether Congress would pursue impeachment proceedings based on the illegal payments alone because lawmakers would need to weigh the gravity of the offense to justify "overturning" the 2016 election. Nadler and other lawmakers said Sunday they would await additional details from Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with the Trump campaign to determine the extent of Trump's misconduct.

Regarding the illegal payments, "whether they are important enough to justify an impeachment is a different question, but certainly they'd be impeachable offenses because even though they were committed before the president became president, they were committed in the service of fraudulently obtaining the office," Nadler said.

Mueller has not said when he will complete a report of any findings, and it isn't clear that any such report would be made available to Congress. That would be up to the attorney general. Trump on Friday said he would nominate former Attorney General William Barr to the post to succeed Jeff Sessions.

Nadler indicated that Democrats, who will control the House in January, will step up their own investigations. He said Congress, the Justice Department and the special counsel need to dig deeper into the allegations, which include questions about whether Trump lied about his business arrangements with Russians and about possible obstruction of justice.

"The new Congress will not try to shield the president," he said. "We will try to get to the bottom of this, in order to serve the American people and to stop this massive conspiracy — this massive fraud on the American people."

Schiff, D-Calif., also stressed a need to wait "until we see the full picture." He has previously indicated his panel would seek to look into the Trump family's business ties with Russia.

"I think we also need to see this as a part of a broader pattern of potential misconduct by the president, and it's that broad pattern, I think, that will lead us to a conclusion about whether it rises to the level to warrant removal from office," Schiff said.

In the legal filings, the Justice Department stopped short of accusing Trump of directly committing a crime. But it said Trump told Cohen to make illegal payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed to have had affairs with Trump more than a decade ago.

In separate filings, Mueller's team detail how Cohen spoke to a Russian who "claimed to be a 'trusted person' in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign 'political synergy' and 'synergy on a government level.'" Cohen said he never followed up on that meeting. Mueller's team also said former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials, including in 2018.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called the latest filings "relevant" in judging Trump's fitness for office but said lawmakers need more information to render judgment. He also warned the White House about considering a pardon for Manafort, saying such a step could trigger congressional debate about limiting a president's pardon powers.

Such a move would be "a terrible mistake," Rubio said. "Pardons should be used judiciously. They're used for cases with extraordinary circumstances."

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine and a member of the Senate intelligence committee, cautioned against a rush to impeachment, which he said citizens could interpret as "political revenge and a coup against the president."

"The best way to solve a problem like this, to me, is elections," King said. "I'm a conservative when it comes to impeachment. I think it's a last resort and only when the evidence is clear of a really substantial legal violation. We may get there, but we're not there now."

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut urged Mueller to "show his cards soon" so that Congress can make a determination early next year on whether to act on impeachment.

"Let's be clear: We have reached a new level in the investigation," Murphy said. "It's important for Congress to get all of the underlying facts and data and evidence that the special counsel has."

Nadler spoke on CNN's "State of the Union," Rubio was on CNN and ABC's "This Week," and Schiff appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation." Murphy spoke on ABC, and King was on NBC's "Meet the Press."

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio - A 15-year-old boy is hospitalized in critical condition after an apartment fire in Reynoldsburg on Sunday.

The fire started around 7 p.m. in the 6500 block of East Livingston Avenue near Baldwin Road.

When firefighters arrived, they could see flames coming from the building.

The teen was found in a second-floor apartment unresponsive according to the Truro Township Fire Department.

The fire department said when he was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital, he was breathing.

The boy's parents were able to get out of the apartment safely.

The fire has since been put out and no firefighters were hurt.

Investigators said the fire is believed to have started in the kitchen but the cause has yet to be determined.

The fire was contained to one unit.

The Red Cross was called to the scene.

CARSON, Calif. — Philip Rivers threw for 220 yards and Michael Badgley kicked four field goals — including a team-record 59-yarder — as the Los Angeles Chargers held off the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21 on Sunday.

Rivers completed 19 of 29 and threw a touchdown in what was not one of the team's best games. The Chargers (10-3) had 160 yards of offense on their first two drives but had 121 the remainder of the game.

Austin Ekeler rushed for 66 yards on 15 carries with Melvin Gordon missing his second straight game due to a knee injury. Keenan Allen had five receptions for 78 yards.

Joe Mixon had 111 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown for the Bengals (5-8), who have dropped five straight games. Jeff Driskel, who was making his second straight start since Andy Dalton's season-ending thumb injury, was 18 of 27 for 170 yards and a touchdown.

The Chargers got touchdowns on their first two drives. They scored their fourth TD on an opening possession this season when they took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in eight plays, culminating in Allen's 14-yard reception from Rivers. Allen, who has a TD in five straight games, was able to beat Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard on a wheel route.

After Randy Bullock's 47-yard field goal, Los Angeles extended its lead to 14-3 just 9 seconds into the second quarter on Ekeler's 5-yard TD run.

Cincinnati got within two points at 14-12 late in the first half on a field goal by Bullock — after an apparent TD run by Driskel was overturned by replay — and Driskel's 5-yard TD pass to John Ross (the two-point attempt was no good). The Chargers though would take a 17-12 lead into halftime when Badgley made his 59-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.

The Chargers led 23-15 late in the fourth quarter when Mixon scored from a yard out. The 2-point attempt, which would have tied the game, failed when Driskel was sacked by Darius Philon.

BIG OVERTURN

Driskel appeared to score a touchdown with five minutes remaining in the second quarter on a 1-yard scramble that would have brought the Bengals within four, but replay overturned it saying he was short of the goal line.

In the past, quarterbacks were safe to go head-first and not be considered to be giving himself up, but that was changed this season. The league pointed out in its rules of emphasis that "A quarterback does not have to slide feet first to be considered to be giving himself up. Regardless whether the slide is feet-first or head-first, as long as he gives himself up, he should receive the protections afforded to him as a player in a defenseless posture."

The overturn meant the ball was spotted inches short of the goal line and brought up fourth-and-goal. Bengals guard Alex Redmond was then called for a false start and Cincinnati had to settle for a Bullock 23-yard field goal that cut the Chargers' margin to 14-6.

BIG LEG BADGLEY

Badgley, who had the winning field goal last Sunday at Pittsburgh, now has the longest field goal in Chargers' history.

The Chargers attempted a Hail May with a second remaining, which resulted in Rivers being sacked, but Bengals defensive end Jordan Willis was called for a false start, which brought out Badgley.

The former team record was a 57-yarder by Nate Kaeding at Tampa Bay on Dec. 21, 2008.

UP NEXT

Bengals: Host Oakland next Sunday before concluding the season with two straight road games.

Chargers: Travel to Kansas City on Thursday night in a matchup of two of the top teams in the AFC.

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden says he is going to stay engaged for the rest of his life, but he didn't make any indication about whether he will make a run for the presidency in 2020.

Biden made the comments Sunday during an appearance in Vermont that is part of his ongoing tour that is promoting his book, "Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose," which he wrote after the cancer death of his son Beau.

Biden spoke in the hometown of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is also considering another run for the presidency.

Biden said last week he believes he is the most qualified person to be president.

After saying he'd stay engaged, Biden spoke of his work in academia and of family life.

CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield outplayed Cam Newton, Jarvis Landry caught a touchdown pass and ran for another score and the Cleveland Browns damaged Carolina's playoff hopes with a 26-20 win Sunday over the Panthers, who dropped their fifth straight.

Mayfield bravely threw a 51-yard TD pass into traffic to Landry, who had a 3-yard scoring run and added a long run — on a similar call — early in the fourth quarter to set up a go-ahead touchdown.

Playing the spoiler role down the stretch, the Browns (5-7-1) improved to 3-2 under interim coach Gregg Williams, who needed just five games to match former Browns coach Hue Jackson's win total over two-plus seasons.

The Panthers (6-7) suffered a loss that could haunt them for months and will increase the heat on coach Ron Rivera.

Newton passed for 265 yards, but overthrew Jarius Wright on 4th-and-goal at the 3 with 2:35 left. Carolina got the ball back, but Newton, who has been playing with a sore right shoulder, badly missed Devin Funchess and was intercepted by Damarious Randall with 57 seconds left.

Before taking a knee on the final two plays, Mayfield revved up Cleveland's crowd, who counted down the final seconds.

Mayfield finished 18 of 22 for 238 yards, continuing his bounce back after throwing three interceptions in the first half last week at Houston.

Carolina came in just a half-game out of the second wild-card spot in the NFC, but with only three games left, including two against New Orleans, the Panthers are going to need help to make the postseason.

Christian McCaffrey had two TD runs for Carolina and finished with 101 total yards.

Browns rookie Nick Chubb scored on a 1-yard run to give the Browns a 23-20 lead with 13:05 left. The score came one play after Landry took an inside handoff and weaved his way down field. Greg Joseph clanged the extra point off the left upright, keeping the Panthers within three.

Newton drove the Panthers to the 3 before throwing two straight incompletions, ending Carolina's best chance to take the lead.

Mayfield's 51-yard TD pass to Landry tied it 14-all with 8:27 left in the second quarter.

Rolling left out of the pocket to buy some time, Mayfield stepped up and confidently delivered a perfect strike to Landry, who was well covered on the play by safety Eric Reid, his former LSU teammate. As fans celebrated, Landry and several teammates sat down in the end zone's corner and pretended to warm themselves around a camp fire.

Mayfield and Newton were both hot in the first half. Mayfield completed 8 of 10 passes for 176 yards and a TD while Newton was 15 of 20 for 185.

Newton drove the Panthers to a touchdown on their first possession with McCaffrey scoring on a 4-yard run.

Rivera took over defensive play calling from coordinator Eric Washington this week, and Mayfield wasted no time challenging the Panthers.

On Cleveland's first play, Mayfield unloaded a pass that traveled more than 60 yards in the air to wide receiver Breshad Perriman for a 66-yard pickup. Two plays later, Landry scored.

NEWTON'S LAW

With his first completion, Newton eclipsed 3,000 yards passing for the eighth straight season. He came in needing 1 yard to reach the plateau and surpassed it on a 25-yarder to Curtis Samuel on Carolina's second snap.

Newton joined Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks in history to reach 3,000 yards in each of their first eight seasons.

ROOKIE RECORD

Mayfield joined Kurt Warner (1999) and Brad Johnson (1996-97) as the only players since 1966 to throw at least one TD pass in each of their first 10 career starts.

INJURIES:

Panthers: No significant injuries.

Browns: C JC Tretter barely made it off the field in the third quarter before dropping to his knees. Tretter, who has played several weeks with a severely sprained right ankle, returned to the game.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host New Orleans on Sunday.

Browns: At Denver on Saturday.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Coach Jim Harbaugh says he is staying at Michigan, responding to speculation he's returning to the NFL.

The former San Francisco 49ers coach tells ESPN he's not going anywhere .

Former Ohio State star receiver and Fox Sports analyst Cris Carter has said Harbaugh is a potential candidate to lead the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns.

Harbaugh and the eighth-ranked Wolverines were celebrated Sunday at a banquet. Harbaugh was scheduled to have a news conference following the event.

Michigan won 10 games this season for the third time under Harbaugh but dropped to 0-4 against the rival Buckeyes and fell out of the Big Ten and national championship races.

The Wolverines face No. 10 Florida on Dec. 29 in the Peach Bowl.

From bringing us the weather to his work helping others, Chris Bradley will always be a cherished part of central Ohio.

Chris passed away last week at the age of 53 after a 20-month battle with leukemia. From the moment of his diagnosis, Chris became a personal and public champion to many.

Monday at 7 p.m.,10TV will air a 30-minute special honoring the life and legacy of Chris Bradley.

Also on Monday, 10TV, NBC4 and ABC6 are coming together to honor Chris. All three television stations are partnering with Be The Match to raise awareness for bone marrow donation.

For more information, click here.

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• A proud leader in the LGBTQ community
• Caregivers call him gracious and grateful, even through illness
• Until the end, a man of faith
• A look at his career and community service
• The love for his family and his home
• Worthington rallied behind him after his diagnosis
• Columbus Blue Jackets honor Chris before game
• Columbus Gay Men's Chorus dedicates song to Chris and family

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Newly minted Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray is apologizing for anti-gay tweets posted to his Twitter account several years ago, when he was 14 and 15.

The Oklahoma quarterback tweeted : "I apologize for the tweets that have come to light tonight from when I was 14 and 15. I used a poor choice of word that doesn't reflect who I am or what I believe. I did not intend to single out any individual or group."

The tweets have since been deleted from the account of the 21-year-old Murray, who won college football's most prestigious individual award Saturday night over Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa and Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins.

Murray, a junior from the Dallas suburbs, has signed a $4.66 million contract with the Oakland Athletics after he was selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft in June and this season may be his last in college football.

COLUMBUS, OHIO - Columbus Police Robbery detectives need help identifying a man wanted for robbing a Columbus Cab driver at knifepoint Nov. 29.

According to police, a Yellow Cab Company driver was called to pick up a fare in the 4100 block of London Lancaster road.

Investigators say the female and male customers were driven to the area of Arborwood Drive and Satinwood Drive in north Columbus. After arriving the female exited the cab. The male put a knife to the driver's throat demanding money and cell phone.

The cab driver complied and the man left on foot.

Police describe the suspect as a white male in his 40's with a goatee weather a knit hat.

Anyone who recognizes the man or has information about this robbery is asked to call the Columbus Police Robbery Unit at 614-645-4665.

REYNOLDSBURG, OHIO - Reynoldsburg Police are searching for the driver who hit a pedestrian at the intersection of Waggoner Road and Oakbrook Apartment Complex. Sunday morning.

Investigators say the crash happened around 2:30 a.m. when the pedestrian was walking in the northbound in the southbound lane of Waggoner Road. After striking the victim the driver and the vehicle did not stop and continued going southbound on Waggoner Road.

The victim was transported by first responders to a local hospital in critical condition, according to police.

Authorities are asking if you have any information about the accident or information about the car or driver that you call Reynoldsburg Police at 614-866-6622.

Stay with 10TV and 10TV.com on this developing story.

POWELL, OHIO - First responders have cleared the scene of a water rescue on Powell Road east of State Route 315 in Delaware County.

The Delaware County Sheriff’s office says they were called at 10:15 Sunday morning for an apparent suicide attempt. Deputies received information that led them to believe a woman jumped from the overpass into the water.

During the investigation, authorities was able to locate the woman who is safe and being evaluated by medical personnel, according to officials.

Law enforcement has reopened Powell Road east of State Route 315.

No other information is immediately available.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — One million balsam wreaths aboard a tractor-trailer caravan are on their way to the nation's most hallowed ground, Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty U.S. service members, veterans and their families.

The "Wreaths Across American" convoy departed Saturday from Columbia Falls, Maine, where the wreaths are made, and will stop at schools, memorials and veteran group gatherings along the 740-mile journey to Arlington, Virginia.

The tradition began when Maine wreath maker Morrill Worcester donated 5,000 wreaths to Arlington Cemetery. Since then, it's grown each year.

The wreaths are set to arrive on Dec. 15 at the national cemetery, where volunteers will place the greenery on headstones.

WASHINGTON (AP) — General Motors is fighting to retain a valuable tax credit for electric vehicles as the nation's largest automaker tries to deal with the political fallout triggered by its plans to shutter several U.S. factories and shed thousands of workers.

Preserving the $7,500 tax incentive for buyers is crucial for GM as the company pivots from internal combustion engines in favor of building cars powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. Yet the layoffs and plant closings could imperil GM's push to keep the incentive. It helps make plug-ins such as the $36,000 Chevy Bolt more affordable at a time when competition from other electric vehicle makers is heating up.

GM faces opposition from President Donald Trump and other Republicans who consider the credit a waste of taxpayer money and want it eliminated. Trump, who has pledged a manufacturing rebirth in the Midwest, reacted angrily to GM's "transformation " announcement late last month, declaring that his administration was "looking at cutting all GM subsidies, including for electric cars."

The company already is on the verge of being phased out of the tax credit program unless Congress changes a law that caps the break at 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer. Without the incentive, GM may be forced to cut the price of its electric cars to keep prospective customers from taking their business elsewhere, according to automotive industry experts.

As evidence of the credit's importance to GM's future, the automaker has expanded its lobbying footprint in Washington and even joined forces with two rivals, Tesla and Nissan, to call for 200,000-vehicle limit to be scrapped.

Standing in the way of that goal is Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wy., the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Barrasso introduced legislation in October to abolish the tax credit, a move he said would save about $20 billion over the next 10 years. He has argued the market for electric vehicles is already established and "no longer needs the crutch of government assistance."

"The idea of the subsidies had to do with trying to make sure that electric vehicles would be a viable technology," Barrasso said. "Well, that's clearly there."

The tax credit came up briefly during a private meeting on Wednesday between Ohio's senators, Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown, and GM chief executive Mary Barra, according to a congressional aide familiar with the conversation. As part of the restructuring, GM said it will stop making the Chevy Cruze at its Lordstown, Ohio, plant by March and is considering closing the plant for good.

Portman told Barra that it's difficult to help with priorities such as the electric vehicle credit when GM is moving production out of Ohio, according to the aide, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

One of the lobbyists working to salvage the credit for GM is Kent Hance, a former chancellor of Texas Tech University who is well connected in GOP circles, according to his online profile . Hance lists his role as a fundraiser for the campaigns of outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and others. He has known Rick Perry, the energy secretary and former Texas governor, for nearly 30 years.

GM in early August named a former Trump White House official, Everett Eissenstat, its senior vice president for global public policy, a post that oversees the company's lobbying operations. Eissenstat, however, is not registered as a lobbyist, according to disclosure records filed with Congress. Before coming to GM, he was Trump's deputy assistant for international economic affairs.

Under federal law, the $7,500 credit for buyers begins to phase out after a manufacturer has sold 200,000 qualifying electric vehicles. GM has estimated it will hit that threshold by the end of December, just as the Bolt will be facing new and potentially stiff competition.

Sam Abuelsamid, a senior analyst at Navigant Research, said Hyundai and Kia each will be selling compact SUVs in the U.S. beginning early next year that can travel 240 miles on a single battery charge, about the same as the Bolt. Ford will be launching a number of new plug-in hybrid models in 2019, including the Lincoln Aviator, Explorer and Escape.

"With the intensifying market shift away from cars to utility vehicles all of these are expected to be more popular than the Bolt," Abuelsamid said. To remain competitive against the new entries, "GM will likely have to cut the (retail price) of the Bolt as well as any additional EVs they launch next year by the corresponding reduction in the tax credits," he said.

Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, said the credit is "hugely important" to electric vehicle manufacturers. Lowering the up-front cost of the vehicle typically plays a significant role in sales, he said, citing surveys that show more consumers would buy electric vehicles if the cars were affordably priced.

GM joined forces with Tesla and Nissan as well as several consumer and environmental groups to broaden its lobbying push even further. The EV Drive Coalition, which was launched in November, urged lawmakers in an open letter last week to put a provision in the must-pass government spending bill that does away with the 200,000-car limit.

"Eliminating the per-rmanufacturer cap will level the playing field for all EV manufacturers and spur innovation among domestic manufacturers, ensuring America's leadership in the hyper-competitive, global auto market," the coalition said.

Jeannine Ginivan, a GM spokeswoman, said the tax credit should be modified but declined to say whether the automaker backs a specific piece of legislation that would remove the cap.

"We believe an important part of reaching a zero emissions future and establishing the U.S. as the leader in electrification is to continue to provide a federal tax credit to help make electric vehicles more affordable for all customers," Ginivan said in an email.

In addition to GM's in-house lobbyists, four lobbyists from Hance Scarborough, the Austin, Texas-based firm that Hance founded in 1994, are working on GM's behalf, including Hance, according to disclosure records.

GM also contracted with two other lobbying firms earlier this year to focus on electric and automated vehicle issues: the Polaris-Hutton Group and the DS2 Group. A fourth firm, the S-3 Group, was hired by GM in 2014 and earlier this year added the tax credit to its portfolio of lobbying issues.